Monterey desal project: Investigation may be reopened

Correction: North county activist Ed Mitchell is running for District 2 supervisor. An earlier version of this story inaccurately identified the supervisorial district in which he is running.

Prunedale >> North Monterey County activist Ed Mitchell has formally requested the state political watchdog reopen an investigation into local public officials' involvement in the conflict of interest that helped bring down the regional desalination project.

Mitchell, who is running for District 2 supervisor, made the request to the state Fair Political Practices Commission in a letter sent late last month after former Monterey County water board member Steve Collins pleaded no contest to a conflict of interest charge in connection with his dual role on the regional desal project.

Collins was paid $160,000 by Marina Coast Water District consultant RMC Water and Environment for work he did helping to create and promote key agreements at the heart of the $400 million project in 2010. He will be sentenced May 22.

An FPPC spokesman announced shortly after Collins' plea that the commission was closing its investigation, prompted by a request from Mitchell in summer 2011 into a possible violation of the state's Political Reform Act by Collins and a range of other public officials in connection with the regional project. Among those investigated were all five supervisors; County Counsel Charles McKee and Deputy County Counsel Irv Grant; former county water resources agency general manager Curtis Weeks and former Marina Coast Water District general manager Jim Heitzman.

In his request, Mitchell wrote that the public deserves a resolution of the issue because it has been "significantly harmed" by the project's collapse as a result of millions of "squandered" taxpayer and ratepayer funds, and the delay of a critical new water supply for the Monterey Peninsula, placing the economy at risk.

Mitchell said Wednesday he had received confirmation that the FPPC's enforcement team had his request, but no indication whether it would reopen the inquiry. He said the request is not related to his run for supervisor and noted he has pursued the matter for years.

FPPC spokesman Jay Wierenga said Wednesday the request is still "under review."

Mitchell called for the FPPC to focus a reopened investigation on Weeks, Heitzman and Grant, and argued that the conclusion of the criminal case and developments in the San Francisco Superior Court civil suit had made it easier for investigators to pursue the matter. He said that Collins was now free to speak to investigators about the case because he could no longer invoke Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, and the prosecution had confirmed much of the information about the case Mitchell had previously sent to the FPPC. In addition, Mitchell said that depositions in the civil suit also included valuable new information in the case.

A critical hearing in the civil suit, which seeks a court ruling on who was at fault for the demise of the regional project, is set for Monday afternoon. The county is seeking permission to pursue a cross-complaint in the suit filed by California American Water after a judge ruled earlier this year that only the county could challenge the validity of the project agreements.

According to Mitchell, the evidence shows that Weeks and Heitzman both purposely engineered Collins' dual role, knew he had a financial interest in the project, failed to do anything about it, and argued that amounted to either "willful blindness to a criminal act or aiding and abetting."

Mitchell also argued that Grant was negligent by not following up on the Collins conflict when he should have known about it and offering faulty advice when Collins sought to recuse himself from a water board vote involving RMC, and that his actions also could amount to "willful blndness to a criminal act."

FPPC chief investigator Gary Winuk previously said the investigation, which was initially placed on hold last year, could be reopened if any new evidence emerged from the Collins criminal trial that proved public officials knew Collins was violating conflict-of-interest laws and purposely helped him do it.

Mitchell said he recommended the FPPC focus on Weeks, Heitzman and Grant — not the supervisors or McKee — because that would allow the commission to move quicker, and criticized the commission for failing to move swiftly enough on the initial investigation. He said the FPPC could always pursue a more extensive inquiry later.